History Main / TheWildcats

* A plot point in ''Film/{{Speed}}''. (a nod to the aforementioned real-life Arizona Wildcats).

* In ''HighSchoolMusical'', the basketball team is called this.
** And they sing about it "Wild Cats everywhere! Put your hands up in the air!"
*** "WHAT TEAM?" "WILDCATS!" Iconic.

* The baseball team in ''[[{{Burnout}} Burnout Paradise]]''.

* Superhero teams aren't immune to this. Just ask [=WildStorm=] Comics' [=WildC=].A.T.S.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' {{lampshaded}} this trope:
-->"Who are we?"\\
"The Wildcats!"\\
"Who are we gonna beat?"\\
"The Wildcats!"

* When Abby temporarily has superpowers in ''Webcomic/LoveAndCapes'', she is trying to come up with a superhero name and asks Mark how he decided on Crusader. Mark admits it was the name of his high school football team. Abby says hers was the Cougars, and they agree she should keep looking.

* When Abby temporarily has superpowers in ''ComicBook/LoveAndCapes'', she is trying to come up with a superhero name and asks Mark how he decided on Crusader. Mark admits it was the name of his high school football team. Abby says hers was the Cougars, and they agree she should keep looking.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoneyTunesShow'': In "Bobcats on Three!", Daffy is recruited to coach the school water polo team, the Bobcats. (Which makes very little sense as the name of a water polo team.)

* When Abby temporarily has superpowers in ''ComicBook/LoveAndCapes'', she is trying to come up with a superhero and asks Mark how he decided on Crusader. Mark admits it was the name of his high school football team. Abby says hers was the Cougars, and they agree she should keep looking.

* The school mascot in ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan.

* Parodied on WebAnimation/TeenGirlSquad with the Fighting Growlbacks.

* Hal coaching Dewie's soccer team The Tigers on ''{{Malcolm in the Middle}}''.

* The high school and middle school teams from ''KingOfTheHill'' were originally named the Cougars. It was changed to the Longhorns later on.
* ''TheSimpsons'' {{lampshaded}} this trope:

* The Kitchen Coliseum in ''{{Futurama}}'' is "Home to the Kitchen Universium Wildcats."

* Goldie Hawn was in a 1986 film called... ''Wildcats''. Her dream was to coach high school football. Guess what the name of the team is... go on, guess.

* The college football team in the {{Rodgers and Hammerstein}} musical ''{{Allegro}}''.

A tropably generic sports team (often high school and usually small town) with a tropably generic mascot.

TelevisionGeography makes all small Midwestern towns look about the same, and their local sports team (often football, but it doesn't really matter) is the "Wildcats." They are typically a RagtagBunchOfMisfits with no sponsors, mismatched equipment, and a coach who works part-time selling insurance, but they somehow manage to beat the odds and win the big game when it really matters.

Usually a trope of sitcoms and cartoons, especially when the plot centers on a character trying to make "the team" or go to "the game" and not on the struggles of the team itself.

* A plot point in ''Film/{{Speed}}''.
** Which was a reference to the aforementioned real-life Arizona Wildcats.

A tropably generic sports team (often high school and usually small town) with a tropably generic mascot.

TelevisionGeography makes all small Midwestern towns look about the same, and their local sports team (often football, but it doesn't really matter) is the "Wildcats." They are typically a RagtagBunchOfMisfits with no sponsors, mismatched equipment, and a coach who works part-time selling insurance, but they somehow manage to beat the odds and win the big game when it really matters.

Similarly generic team names are Cougars, Tigers, Eagles, or Bulldogs.

Usually a trope of sitcoms and cartoons, especially when the plot centers on a character trying to make "the team" or go to "the game" and not on the struggles of the team itself.

Definitely TruthInTelevision. Nor is this trope confined to high school: the sports teams of the University of Arizona, Bethune-Cookman University, Davidson College, Kansas State, University of Kentucky, University of New Hampshire, Northwestern University, Villanova, and Weber State (not an exhaustive list) are all RealLife Wildcats.

One use for this trope is to make a gentle dig at the NCAA's naming policies. While the name Wildcats is historically popular, the number of teams vaguely named after cats and birds has exploded recently as schools try to get away from older, politically incorrect nicknames (e.g. "We're the Sabrecats. We used to be the Savages, but we had to change that"). See PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad.

Not to be confused with the superhero comic series ''Comicbook/{{Wildcats}}''
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!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* Superhero teams aren't immune to this. Just ask [=WildStorm=] Comics' [=WildC=].A.T.S.
* The school mascot in ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* Goldie Hawn was in a 1986 film called... ''Wildcats''. Her dream was to coach high school football. Guess what the name of the team is... go on, guess.
* In ''HighSchoolMusical'', the basketball team is called this.
** And they sing about it "Wild Cats everywhere! Put your hands up in the air!"
* A plot point in ''Film/{{Speed}}''.
** Which was a reference to the aforementioned real-life Arizona Wildcats.
* The football team from Prudence's high school in ''Film/{{Across the Universe}}''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* The Pee Wee Hockey League team ''Series/MacGyver'' belonged to as a boy, as seen in the episode "Harry's Will".
* Claire's original highschool football team on ''{{Series/Heroes}}'': The Wildcats.
* Hal coaching Dewie's soccer team The Tigers on ''{{Malcolm in the Middle}}''.
* When Cuddy asked, "The janitor's closet ''here''?" in response to hearing that Cameron and Chase had been having liaisons in the janitor's closet, Series/{{House}} sarcastically replied, "No, the one at the local high school. Go Tigercats!"
* The college in Gulfhaven uses the Cougar nickname, as a self-admitted weak justification for ''Series/CougarTown'' keeping its original title.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Theatre ]]

* The college football team in the {{Rodgers and Hammerstein}} musical ''{{Allegro}}''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* The baseball team in ''[[{{Burnout}} Burnout Paradise]]''.
* One of the racing teams in ''Juiced''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

* [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2008/11/06/episode-1056-mix-n-match/ Lampshaded]] in ''[[WebComic/EightBitTheater 8-Bit Theater]]''

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* The high school and middle school teams from ''KingOfTheHill'' were originally named the Cougars. It was changed to the Longhorns later on.
* ''TheSimpsons'' {{lampshaded}} this trope:
-->"Who are we?"\\
"The Wildcats!"\\
"Who are we gonna beat?"\\
"The Wildcats!"
* The Kitchen Coliseum in ''{{Futurama}}'' is "Home to the Kitchen Universium Wildcats."

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Other ]]

* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] [[http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=4029728&sportCat=ncb in this article]], on a "likability index": "If your mascot is a Husky, deduct one point for triteness. If your mascot is a Wildcat, deduct two points for {{egregious}} triteness."
* Parodied on WebAnimation/TeenGirlSquad with the Fighting Growlbacks.
* Also very common in RealLife are Eagles and Wolverines.

[[/folder]]
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Not to be confused with the superhero comic series ''Comicbook/Wildcats''

Not to be confused with the superhero comic series ''Comibook/{{Wildcats}}''

A tropably generic local sports team (often high school and usually small town) with a tropably generic mascot.

TelevisionGeography makes all small Midwestern towns look about the same, and their local team is the "Wildcats" (sometimes the Cougars) surprisingly often. They are typically a RagtagBunchOfMisfits with no sponsors, mismatched equipment, and a coach who works part-time selling insurance, but they somehow manage to beat the odds and win the big game when it really matters.

Similarly generic team names are Tigers, Eagles, or Bulldogs.

Definitely TruthInTelevision. Nor is this trope confined to high school: Arizona, Bethune-Cookman, Davidson, Kansas State, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Northwestern, Villanova, and Weber State are all RealLife Wildcats.

Not to be confused with the superhero comicbook series ''{{Wildcats}}''

Other generic team names besides "Wildcats" are Tigers, Eagles, or Bulldogs.

Usually a trope of sitcoms and cartoons.

One use for this trope is to make a gentle dig at the NCAA's naming policies. While the name Wildcats is historically popular, the number of teams vaguely named after cats and birds has exploded recently as schools try to get away from older, politically incorrect nicknames (e.g. "We're the Wildcats. We used to be the Savages, but we had to change that). See PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad.

* The college in Winterhaven uses the Cougar nickname, as a self-admitted weak justification for ''Series/CougarTown'' keeping its original title.

* The baseball team in ''BurnoutParadise''.

All football and soccer teams in the United States that are located in towns subject to TelevisionGeography are called the "Wildcats." (Or Cougars, if they want to get specific.) They are typically a RagtagBunchOfMisfits who somehow manage to beat the odds and win the big game.

Definitely TruthInTelevision. If it's not the Wildcats, it may well be the Tigers, Eagles, or Bulldogs. Numerous universities and colleges, such as Arizona, Bethune-Cookman, Davidson, Kansas State, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Northwestern, Villanova, and Weber State prove that not even colleges are immune. Just to name a few.

This can also be done in fiction as a slight dig at the NCAA's recent naming policies. While the name Wildcats is historically popular, the number of teams vaguely named after cats and birds has exploded recently as schools try to get away from older, politically incorrect nicknames (e.g. "We're the Wildcats. We used to be the Savages, but we had to change that).

This can also be done in fiction as a slight dig at the NCAA's recent naming policies. While the name Wildcats is historically popular, the number of teams vaguely named after cats and birds has exploded recently as schools try to get away from older, politically incorrect nicknames.

* When prompted for whatever reason to say which janitorial closet Cameron and Chase had been having their liaisons in, Series/{{House}} sarcastically said, "the one at the local high school. Go Tigercats!"

[[/folder]